Meet Stephanie Cordova | Owner and Chef

We had the good fortune of connecting with Stephanie Cordova and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Stephanie, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
We wanted to do something for our two kids and work for ourselves. We loved to cook for our friends and family and they loved our food so when my husband showed me a video on Trudys underground bbq that was it! I was like let’s try this! We went up to the Shadow hills area where there had been big fires and found our propane tank that he would fabric for us and that was it! We did not want to get in to debt, taking out loans to open a brick and mortar, and have to get a client base. That would have been so stressful.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
We name our business after are two kids Cristina / nick name NIA, and Jagger/JAG. I am not Nia hahaha lots will write or call me nia and honestly sometimes I am to busy and covered in food lol to even tell them i am Stephanie 😆. My husband was frist in his family born in the US they fled from Cuba in 1969 and my Grandparents We’re from Blen New Mexico, So we like to incorporate a lot of Cuban and new Mexican flair to our dishes. Of course we do the Texas brisket, pulled pork, spare ribs, turkey, rib tips with just wood ( no Pellets, charcoal, gas) we use just wood (stick burning) We will do a Cuban sandwich arstyle with our smoked pulled pork, ham, Swiss cheese, mojo, and mustard. Also In our Texas loaded beans we use black beans and put them over white rice. Also for the New Mexico side you know we have to put hatch green chili on top of our pulled pork sandwichs and also we have to drizzle red chili sauce on our smoked pork sandwich with a fried egg on top on a grilled brioche bun. We are most proud that we have actually did what we set up to do and have Loyal customers that I see every week that keep coming for the last 2 years! It makes me so happy to make people happy with our food! I am really excited about the future and where our business is going! Right now I am actually waiting to hear news on something that could be really big! But I cant say yet! We got here WITH ALOT OF HARD WORK AND BEING CONSISTENT! AND ITS JUST THE BEGINNING STILL. It has definitely not been easy but I feel like if the craft barbecue business was that easy, there would be so many other people doing it! Anyone doing this business knows that it’s pretty rough there are sometimes when I would rather not go to our farmer’s market when it’s a 113° out extremely windy Or it’s pouring rain And have to set up our tent and all of our things also get no sleep because your food is taking 19 hours to smoke And have to set up our tent and all of our things also get no sleep because your food is taking 19 hours to smoke There are many nights when I have slept and I wake up and my husband has not slept he is still up from the night before because the Santa Ana wins came but it’s all worth it and it seems that better things keep happening the harder we work! And as for overcoming challenges I feel like we have challenges every single market, every cook and catering event there always seems to be something that happens but it’s been a learning experience and you just take it as it comes! I guess I would want the world to know that we put in a lot of love and hard work to give them a good product I guess I would want the world to know that we put in a lot of love and hard work to give them a good product, And we are just a small family business hoping to give our kids something to keep going. And that my husband plays a lot of guitar while smoking that meat I forgot to mention he was signed to Interscope Records and was in a band called dragpipe. So usually you don’t see him too much at the markets because he hasn’t had any sleep and he’s usually in the back playing guitar somewhere🤣

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
We love going to Oxnard Beach! And we always bring stuff and just enjoy the ocean. I usually if they want to drink I’m kind of a dive bar girl, I like the Tonga Hut in North Hollywood, Ye rustic inn, in sliver lake And there is actually this really cool little hidden bar in shadow hills called the hideaway it’s like you’re not even in California. And for food they always love In-N-Out Burger And there’s this really good birra truck here in Sylmar on foothill but I don’t know the name. And of course Bob’s big boy in Burbank I do have Bob tattooed on my arm. I do want to get up and visit Adam Parry Lang! His stuff looks so wonderful, and the San Fernando mission is very cool

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My mother inlaw Rina and my grandparents Sam and Stella Cordova! My grandpa was a Go-getter and did well in business and pretty much worked for himself and was very successful! Unfortunately they both past away in 2022 and my mother inlaw in 2021 I wish they were here to see our business grow but my grandparents did get to go see us, with huge lines at the Canyon Country Farmers Market before they passed and he was so happy and proud! He had a huge smile! Also Trudys underground bbq and Moos Craft barbecue are totally a inspiration barbecue it showed us you can become Successful with hard work, starting from your kitchen in your house with out getting into debt or having lots of money!

Website: Nia and Jags Barbecue

Instagram: Nia and Jags Barbecue

Facebook: Nia and Jags Barbecue

Yelp: Nia and Jags Barbecue

Other: We are on Google to haha

Image Credits
Larry McClements